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Tag: medicine

President Obama took to the airwaves Wednesday in an effort to promote his plan for a national government-run health care system. He answered questions on rising costs, taxing benefits, and many other issues during an ABC News special on health care reform called “Questions for the President: Prescription for America.”

Last week, Cato hosted an all-day conference on health care reform, which included expert opinions from across the political spectrum. Cato Founder and President Ed Crane started the event with a talk about a libertarian approach to reforming health care, which would reduce federal involvement, increase competition, decouple health care from employment and increase the amount of doctors available.

In his speech to the American Medical Association today, President Obama repeatedly denied that he supports “socialized medicine” or “government-run” health care.

But what is important is not the terminology, but under the proposal supported by the president, government would control more and more of our health care decisions. Government would compel Americans to purchase health insurance, controlling its content, how much we pay, and the relationships between insurers, doctors, and patients. Government bureaucrats would determine whether Americans receive certain medical services.

There may be no better salesman than Barack Obama, but his product is deeply flawed. The so-called “Public Option,” or government-run plan, that President Obama supports would slowly but inexorably lead to the destruction of the private insurance market and the imposition of a government-controlled single-payer system.

But the problems with Obamacare go well beyond the Public Option, which the AMA opposes. The mandates on businesses and individuals, taxpayer subsidies, insurance regulation, and government interference in private medical decisions pose serious threats to American businesses, taxpayers, and most importantly patients.

Rumor has it that Republicans in the House and Senate will soon decide whether their alternative to the Democrats’ health care reforms will include an “individual mandate” – a legal requirement that all Americans obtain health insurance.

A recent Consensus Group statement shows that the entire free-market health policy community – including scholars from the Heritage Foundation – opposes such a move.

The Cato Institute has published one study arguing against an individual mandate in itself, and twostudies critical of its use in Massachusetts. Cato will soon publish additional studies showing how an individual mandate has – as predicted – led to exploding costs and government rationing efforts in Massachusetts, and arguing against its use at the federal level.

Worse, as I explain in this study, an individual mandate is in fact a large leap toward socialized medicine – regardless of the fact that health insurance would remain nominally “private.” Republicans may oppose creating a new government health insurance program. Yet if they are willing to force Americans to purchase insurance, they will effectively nationalize the health insurance industry.

Finally, as I explain in this op-ed, an individual mandate is always accompanied by taxpayer subsidies to people who may (or may not) need aid to comply. The more people who rely on government aid for their health care, the harder life will become for the party of tax cuts. Bill Clinton showed that the best way to defeat tax cuts is to paint them as a threat to YOUR health care. Just in case doing the right thing isn’t reason enough to reject this horrid idea, Republicans should know that by supporting an individual mandate, they will be slitting their own throats.

All for an idea that doesn’t even command support from a majority of the public.

As we all know, the American health care system is less than perfect. An inefficient amalgam of government spending, federal tax incentives, employer-based insurance, and private providers, the U.S. system costs us more than it should for the services provided. Nevertheless, medicine in America remains far more directed by and for patients, in contrast to nationalized systems, which are usually organized by and for bureaucrats.

Like so many young women, Amy King always took great pride in her appearance.

Standing in front of the mirror to check her make-up before a night out, the 21-year-old would always try a smile - friends told her they loved the way it lit up her face.

Eight weeks ago, all that changed. The student from Plymouth was admitted to hospital where, in a single operation, she had every tooth in her mouth removed.

Obviously, not all foreign systems do so little for their patients. France, Germany, and Switzerland all provide care differently, and in all of these nations people receive better treatment than in Britain. But no where is turning health care over to government the best way to ensure quality yet affordable medical care. Instead, control over health care should be placed back in the hands of those who have the most at stake: patients.

An Illinois physician is arguing that actress Natasha Richardson might have survived her skiing accident if it had occurred in the United States rather than Canada. Explains Dr. Cory Franklin:

Canadian health care de-emphasizes widespread dissemination of technology like CT scanners and quick access to specialists like neurosurgeons. While all the facts of Richardson’s medical care haven’t been released, enough is known to pose questions with profound implications.

In the U.S. Richardson likely could have been both diagnosed locally and flown to emergency care in a nearby city. Adds Franklin:

What would have happened at a US ski resort? It obviously depends on the location and facts, but according to a colleague who has worked at two major Colorado ski resorts, the same distance from Denver as Mt. Tremblant is from Montreal, things would likely have proceeded differently.

Assuming Richardson initially declined medical care here as well, once she did present to caregivers that she was suffering from a possible head trauma, she would’ve been immediately transported by air, weather permitting, and arrived in Denver in less than an hour.

If this weren’t possible, in both resorts she would’ve been seen within 15 minutes at a local facility with CT scanning and someone who could perform temporary drainage until transfer to a neurosurgeon was possible.

If she were conscious at 4 p.m., she’d most likely have been diagnosed and treated about that time, receiving care unavailable in the local Canadian hospital. She might’ve still died or suffered brain damage but her chances of surviving would have been much greater in the United States.

American medicine is often criticized for being too specialty-oriented, with hospitals “duplicating” too many services like CT scanners. This argument has merit, but those criticisms ignore cases where it is better to have resources and not need them than to need resources and not have them.

Obviously, Americans also die needlessly from substandard care on occasion. But where government controls the entire health care system, politics is likely to trump consumers from beginning to end. And that is evidently the case in Canada, where pets typically have speedier access than humans to many of the technological advances that Americans take for granted. Policymakers must not forget the needs of patients as they rush to “reform” the U.S. health care system.